Spring Adventures

Last weekend we brought a gardenia plant home, and Tex had to check it out. We get such beautiful sunlight through the living room windows.  I am so very happy we are having such lovely weather...finally!

Over the weekend, my mom and I took a drive out to Rochester to attend the Rochester Lilac Festival. We were a bit disappointed to not see any blooming lilacs. I'm afraid after the long, hard winter and cold temperatures through March, the lilacs have had a slow start.  However, we did see many other lovely blooms!

Tulips, tulips everywhere!

I also enjoyed the cherry blossoms. They were painting the ground pink with their petals.

Ah, the sweet violet. I love these little violets peeping up from the ground.

Wonderful, sunny daffodils.

Lola enjoyed herself, walking through Highland Park.

The magnolia tree in the background was just gorgeous!

It wouldn't be a trip without a stop at a local quilt shop.  The shop had an amazing selection! I splurged on my favorite 1930's prints. These fabrics will make for some fun summer sewing!

Today, I went to the local park to see the ducklings. Oh, they made my day! They are just the cutest, huddled together in the sun.  Momma was close-by and she had her eye on me as I got closer to snap this shot!

There are 14 of them swimming in the pond!

What spring delights are you enjoying??

Comings and Goings

Spring spring, happy spring! On a sunny Easter morning I went out to admire the daffodils in the front yard. They are more abundant now and so cheery to look at. I also love the purple violets popping up in the grass.

I've been spending some time playing with mini hexagons, and granny squares! I can't stop making granny squares!  Oh my! It's all because Lori Holt's book Great Granny Squared is so so cute!  If you don't have it yet, I highly recommend it.  Cutting out 2.5 inch squares from my favorite fabrics is so fun! I am working on some things for me, and some things for the shop....coming soon!

The pets are also enjoying the sun. Tex especially. My sunny boy.

I was so excited to learn about the Great Granny Sew Along  and so far have managed to keep up and make the first 2 blocks. I'll be honest, the idea of piecing the basket block and yarn block wasn't initially my cup of tea. But after making both blocks, I am so glad I did. I love the way they turned out!  Weekly blocks are posted on Mondays and you need Lori Holt's book to participate. There's still time to join!

The sweet violet plant is really enjoying her place in the kitchen and keeps blooming for us. I never had much luck with violets in the past. They key I believe is direct sun and not too much water.

What have you been up to?

Sunny Days

Wow. We were blessed with two warm days this weekend. Saturday it was all sun and in the 60's. Today it was closer to 70, some clouds in the morning and then sun all afternoon.  What a treat! 

What's the weather near you? Sadly, good things must come to an end, and come Tuesday there is snow *shudder* in the forecast.  

Today, Lola lapped up some sun on the deck. She was so happy to be out in it.

I spent several hours at the sewing machine working on a custom order, and finishing up some new mug rugs for the shop.  Talk about a treat! I love being able to spend significant chunks of time at the machine.

While I sewed, these two napped. Champion nappers.  I took my down comforter off my bed on Saturday after a couple nights of being much too hot. I bet I just jinxed us for getting more warm weather. Hahaha.  In any case, the cats promptly got to work getting my quilt covered in fur. 

 On Saturday my mom and I went to a local quilt show. The quilts were stunning! It is so inspiring to see such beautiful work at every turn.  This quilt, as you'll see in others, had such amazing applique work. 

Here's a shot of the whole quilt. Simply amazing!

There were many modern quilt designs too. A nice compliment to all the traditional style quilts.  I liked the movement and colors in this one.

More applique on this beauty!  I like the color scheme on this one too.

Now this quilt. It was stunning! And so very large! Had to be king size. As you can tell from the photo, I couldn't even get the entire thing in the frame. I do have a thing for pinwheels!

This was one of my favorites. An art quilt and tribute quilt that the artist made to honor her dad. Not gonna lie, I teared up reading the description.  Her dad fought in WWII, and landed at Normandy. Retired from service in 1970. What a wonderful piece of art, and inspiring too.

 All in all, a wonderful weekend was had. If only they didn't go so fast. Almost time for Call of the Midwife.  I just love that program!

How was your weekend? 

Spring Things

I have no idea where the time has gone! It has been a whole month since I've visited this space. 

Recently I finished a new baby quilt, which is now listed in the shop. I am so happy with how it turned out! This one was made using fabrics from Lakehouse Dry Goods, many of them Pam Kitty Morning and some Pam Kitty Picnic.  It measures 32 inches by 36 inches, and it reminds me so much of beautiful spring days.

The weather had been so dreary for so long, and last Sunday the sun finally came out. Harry went out on the deck and sunned himself for a couple hours. 

A couple weekends ago, we had about 7 inches of snow fall.  Even Lola looks dismayed in this picture!

My Tex loves napping in the sun every chance he can get! This is how I found him when I got home from work today.

The birds, oh, the birds! The birds are out everywhere. I know they must be loving the fact that spring is slowly making an appearance. After dinner tonight I took my camera outside and followed in the direction of the tweeting.  I found this cardinal sitting in the tree.

I also found this round robin. And boy (or girl) was it round!  I love robins. Since they have started coming out in droves, I like to count them on my way to and from work everyday.

What's your favorite part of spring?

Shop Update

This post brought to you by Tex and Harry. They say hello, err, meow. 

 I've been busy getting three new quilts made, photographed and listed in my shop! I am absolutely loving their sunny cheer! 

This is a broken dish quilt I made using an April Showers by Bonnie and Camille charm pack, plus some feed sack prints mixed in for good measure. ;)

The pinwheel quilt is made using a Marmalade charm pack, also by Bonnie and Camille. Can you tell I am a big fan?

The last one is a rail fence quilt I whipped up using Cat Nap by Lizzy House. Oh my! This is one of my most favorite quilts ever!

All three are baby sized and in the shop now!

What have you been up to?